Grenade thrower



Jan.- 16, 1945. WALKER 2,367,249

GRENADE THROWER Filed Nov. 26, 1943 aftozawn b Patented Jan. 16, 1945 2,3572%; c amps: meowsnr Brookswalher,,PieiimontfCalif. Amilica-tion No vember 26, I943, swarm. {SIRS-2E 44:01am. (ClaLZ lE-L'H "(Granted under-the at of March 3 1883', as amendedfl pril 30, mam- 3100. cease-y The;inmnticn described. herein may bee-manuiactured and used by or fonthe-Gouernmentfor governmental pnrposesz-without .theip ment to ame of any royalty thereon. h

The: inventionrrelates ztolmeans. for .fiacilita-ting the :throwingrof. grenades manually and has. .for

an: object to. enable;th eadaptation of thersling shot -.in. a praetioal, way torsuchi use. I

.It. is. :an. .im-pertantrintent of. the. imrentiento present 'suchaa device "which; may be -carried. :by

the soldier witheutaddingv :chiectienably the impedimenta of equipment, especially vineconsiderationrofjthe benefits.derived-zfrom its use. It

is .a-lsoira purpcse; tormesentlaldevicewhich may be1.-readily-.carried.on the.-5person, sand;.may .be applied to. various-utilitarian purposes at times whencombatlis not imminent. 'It istalseseught toeliminate need .{orrany special mount elements .or framing.- ofrigid materiahlbutto ofieranaantiole which consists essentially of only theaelastic material. necessary l-to= enable; the storing and .-re-,

lease with accelerated.motionytorce -of:.kinetic ener y 'as familiarly manifest in slinggshotsusing rubberbands.

lt is. an. important desideratumi salsotol enable:

themsexofz the, principleot the: sling shot; so that more than the force-developedin .an exclusively -manualdeuice: may be: anplied zto the; propulsion -.of a grenade -sothat the grenadercanybe projected .over. considerably greater distances. than when I the; strength of --the; hands tan-d arms .zonly'lof. the Y user is available. I-tcis therefore;aispecificrdesign. or the invention to. provide: ;austirrup:-xanchorage for elastic; bands or .a sling shot device; so: that the; article may have: the? fie BtlOfe .thezuserzinsented; sin .stirrupsat i the, extremities; @fs the bands,go.r vso that the stirrups may be slipped icverstakes or theeliketasrancheragfl l. t Aiurther' consideratiomis theasimplification of ;pro.ducti 2n ot-theelastics, stirrups. andia recepta :cle for holding.- the grenadeiin *ithesling;

An: .importantrattainment .ofthe. invention is to enablethe soldierste vthrow a grenade .without exposing himself. to; View even- :Whl'l. intrencl'iments are not available," it: being, possible; forthe .man to throw the;ignenade'whileylying -pr.os.trate,"

.withranges.exeeeding thosegpracticable manually under the most'favorablaconditions; T

- Additional objeets advantageseand; features of invention reside inthe-construotibn,arrangement; proportions; andi combinaticnxzof: parts: involved in: the embodimentoftheiinvention; asxwilljap- CpGBITFOI 'be understoodfrom bhB-IOIIO'WiTlgi descrip- .tion and accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure, l is a perspect'ii e viewof one form-ohm the inuentien-,--the- ,body of a person using the same being indicated by dotted lines;

Eigure 2 is an elevation of the sling in repose;

Figure 3 is a sectional View at right angles to Figure 2, showing the flat side of the band and the Figure .4 modification.

is a view similar to FigureQBJ f a .There is; illustrated an, elastic sling. deyicecomprising two elastic. bands It of rubber or .th like at; a quality equal. to that o f pure natural. rubber .caoutchouc moderately vulcanized. or ivulcanlizedso as to. impr-ove.. i-ts elasticity and .to utilize itsjcapability of stretching to a good maximum.

' tar as the instep, andthe/depth of thereceptacle These bands are preferably of such cross sectional @size andlengthas to taxthe strengthor the average .man somewhat less. than .his maximum effort whenpulling them both .-simultane0us1y to-twice theirl.ength,.-using both handset-the outerlends whilethe base. ends are anchored to or near the iieet orsuchperson. Integral stirrup loops M are .formedat the base .enclsoflthe bands, anda renceptaclejlllis. located at the opposite ends of the bands, eitherattached. or. a separate material or, .asillustralted 'formed .-integrally with the bands.

projection 'of the grenade whenfthe latter is fully inserted. Thebands it may have alengthsuch "that when the stirrups, are engaged on the feet ofthe user andthe .bandsai'e in repose, the base of"the..receptacle will be in the neighborhood of fjl8'inches, more .or'less, from. the soles of'the feet engaged in "the device.

While the bands are illustrated as flattened in cross section, they may be otherwise shaped in section as. found expedient or desirable;

formed inte jgrally with thetbands it are preferably as thick The walls offthe receptacle, when or thicker than'theflatbands, so as to minimize stretching of the material ofthe receptacle under 5 projecting use;

Itwill be noted that, asshown in Figure 2., the

.s'tirrups lie with the outer loop parts [3 infolded between the inner. side parts 14, alllyinginclose li'latjfittihg relation. Each. stirrupfis caused to automatically assume thiselose .folded form by the. inherent elasticity'of thematerial and the stressesset Lip-therein When opened to receive the foot, by yuloanizingthe stirrup; portion while :insuch. .folded @position.

ltrantscentral fold-J5 in the outer half of. the

This. produces a reenlame: forrning. thestirr-up: and lateral projecting loops l6 midway of each side of the loop and-a base fold ll" whereby the inner side parts M are caused to press flat against the interposed infolded parts l3.

In use, the soldier may engage his feet in respective stirrups and with grenades in convenient reach lies on his back, with one hand holding the receptacle, without tension on the bands. With the other hand he inserts a grenade and its operating lever in the receptacle with the bouchon portion projected from the receptacle,

exposing the safety pin and the ring on the latter by which it may be extracted. If the receptacle fits loosely around the grenade it is desirable that the operating lever of the grenade be so located that it will lie in a plane with the axis of the grenade at right angles to the plane including both bands in and it is then grasped in the first mentioned hand so as to hold the lever depressed. The receptacle would hold the lever to prevent its detachment or firing operation, however, even if notdepressed by the grasp of the user. The grenade may also be inserted with the lever outside the receptacle and extending 'rearwardly beside the receptacle so that it may be. grasped under the thumb or fingers of the user at the same time that the receptacle is grasped.

The grenade being placed, as indicated, and while held with the receptacle in one hand, the safety pin is extracted, arming the grenade,

The grenade may be retained in this armed condition for a time in case of a moving target until the latter is in good range, and then with both hands the receptacle and grenade are grasped and drawn rearward placing the bands I under a tension sufficient to project the grenade over the proper distance. Care is taken to keep the legs spread apart so as to afford a good clear way for movement of the projectile and receptacle between the feet. Upon release then of the receptacle from the. grasp of the hands the contraction of the bands will draw it forward with accelerated motion so as to propel the grenade on a line representing the resultant of the forces communicated by the bands I0. On the latter account, in order to enable a fair approximation of correct azimuth, it is desirable,

ordinarily that the feet be equally spaced on opposite sides of the axis of the trunk of the user, and the receptacle drawn back on a vertical plane including that axis, and that the body be so,positioned that the axis will be as near as possible in the desired azimuth plane. However, with experience aiming with fair accuracy will be possible with modification of the specific practice last described.

By elevating the feet, the trajectory may be.

varied, and by providing a foot rest such as a log, or boxes, the trajectory may be changed by raising or lowering the receptacle while the bands It! are under throwing tension.

In order to minimize looping of the bands during contraction, the bands may be tapered as at In, Figure 4, from the receptacle to the beginning of the stirrups so that strain of the bands will continue during contraction in such manner that the .whole length of both will be kept under tension until full contraction has occurred. The portions of the bands next the receptacle would then recover first from distension, but would be kept taut by recovery continuing in the forward portion, until the bands have contracted to their minimum length. The final action in such case' would also be such as to change the direction of inertia in the material of the bands giving it elements of direction divergent from the line of flight of the grenade whereby possible tendency of loops of the bands otherwise to become interposed in the path of the grenade is counteracted.

Thus, each band may be a continuous annular band to which the cup formed in any conventional way may be attached conventionally and the parts of the band distant from the cup will constitute a stirrup loop into which the feet of the user may be inserted, the device then being applied to use and functioning substantially in the same manner as above described.

Shaping of the cup to facilitate gripping or the provision of hand holds or finger holds may be carried out as found expedient or required for the uses contemplated.

WhileI have disclosed my invention specifically in the best embodiment known 'to me, it will nevertheless be understood that modification of the form proportions arrangement and combination of elements and parts, substitution of materials and equivalents, mechanical and otherwise may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as particularly defined in the appended claims, wherein;

'I claim:

-l. A thrower for grenades and the like consisting of two elastic stretchable bands each having a foot-receiving stirrup at one extremity, and a projectile receiving receptacle connected to the opposite ends of the bands, the material of each stirrup being formed with a reentrant central fold and lateral projecting folds, whereby the outer part of each stirrup when free assumes an infolded position within the inner side parts of the stirrup under inherent stress of the material at said folds.

2. A thrower for grenades and the like consisting of two elastic stretchable bands each having a foot-receiving stirrup at one extremity, and a projectile receiving receptacle connected to the opposite ends of the bands, the material of-each stirrup being formed with a reentrant central fold and lateral projecting folds, whereby the outer part of each stirrup when free assumes an infolded position within the inner side parts of the stirrup under inherent stress of the material at said folds, said inner part beingformed with side portions joined at a base fold whereby the side portions assume a closed position flat against said infolded parts.

3. A high power catapult for grenades, consisting of a pair of elastic bands each adapted to be stretched to a length approximately the distance from the foot of the user to his waist, said bands exceeding in normal operative contractile force the manual force capable of being exerted between the hands of an operator, a launching BROOKS WALKER. 

